Run the scoreboard without the panic.
Practice on a working copy of the rink's Fair-Play console before game day. Learn what each key does, then run fake games until flipping the clock on and off feels automatic.
Hockey timing in two minutes
Whistle = clock off
The game clock only runs while the puck is in play. Every time a referee blows the whistle, you flip the TIME IN switch off.
Puck drop = clock on
Play restarts with a faceoff. The moment the referee drops the puck, flip TIME IN back on. Not when they skate to the dot, when the puck leaves their hand.
Penalty clocks follow the game clock
A penalty shows a player number and a countdown. It only counts down while the game clock runs, so you never have to start it separately.
Power-play goals end minors
If the team with more skaters scores, the shorthanded team's minor penalty ends right away. The console doesn't do this for you. You clear it.
Shots on goal
A shot that the goalie stops, or that goes in. Shots that miss the net or hit a post don't count. The clock keeps running; just tap the key.
The referee is the boss
If anything on the board is wrong, the ref tells you what it should be. Fixing a mistake is normal. Every lesson shows how.
Your league's rules
Every lesson, drill and the cheat sheet use these. Check your game sheet or ask the coach if you're not sure.
Your rink's console has a sticker on the +3 key that says 01:30. Someone set that key to enter a 1:30 penalty. +1 enters 2:00 and +2 enters 5:00. If the sticker on your console says something different, ask the rink before your game.
Your game-day routine
Before puck drop
- Find "HK" in the top-left of the console screen. That means hockey mode.
- Clear the last game: Shift + Period (New Game), then Shift + 4 (Yes).
- Set the period clock: Clock Set, type the time, Enter.
- Check the board shows 0 to 0, period 1, the right time.
- Make sure TIME IN is off.
During each period
- Puck drops: TIME IN on.
- Whistle: TIME IN off.
- Goal: stop the clock, add the goal, add a shot.
- Penalty: stop the clock, enter it before the next faceoff.
- Power-play goal: clear the shorthanded player's minor.
Between periods
- Let the horn sound at 0:00, then flip TIME IN off.
- Period then +1.
- Clock Set, type the time, Enter.
- Penalties still on the board carry over to the next period. Leave them.
Steps come from the Fair-Play MP-70/50 Series User Guide (document 98-0002-29), hockey and common-functions chapters. This trainer is unofficial and not made by Trans-Lux or Fair-Play. The console screen text is copied from the manual where it shows it; other screens are close approximations. Your rink may have changed settings, so do one dry run on the real console before your first game.
On the real console you hold SHIFT while pressing the second key. Here, tap SHIFT and then the key. On a computer: space bar flips TIME IN, number keys type, Enter is ENTER, Backspace is CLR.